WOMEN’S PROBLEMS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 68, 22 March 1939, Page 2

WOMEN’S PROBLEMS

DUTY AS CITIZENS. OPPORTUNITY FOR SERVICE LEAGUE OF MOTHERS’ ADDRESS. “When we consider the problems confronting women we must approach the matter with the idea that the world to-day is much different than it was 25 years ago. We are living in a world which is changing from tfay to day and the hab’ts and outlook of the present generation are different from those of 25 years ago,” declared Mrs. E. Freeman, of Wellington, secretary of the magazine “Women To-day,” when speaking to members ot the Wanganui League of Mothers yesterday afternoon. There was no use in a mother rearing handsome sons and daughters if they were going to be unemployed or become victims in the bombardment of the civil population which was becoming one of the features of war in the world to-day. Women were brought up to be housewives first and good citizens after that. A good home was the foundation of a good life, said Mrs. Freeman, but there were problems in the world which required the attention of women as good citizens. Firstly there was the Child Welfare Act, which was considered to be a disgrace to New Zealand in that it permitted a child to be taken away from its parents for very little reason, and did not give any right of appeal. Something would have to be done by the women of New Zealand about this Act and its administration. Another important matter was the maternity services of the Dominion, which had been reviewed in the Macmillan Report the year before last. This report had been forgotten because the carrying out of its suggestions had been left to the hospital boards. The women had elected the hospital boards and left the matter at thai. Dealing with the problem of the Maori women, Mrs. Freeman said that, there were hundreds and thousands of Maori women and children who were living under disgraceful housing conditions. This was a most important: problem for the women of New Zealand to tackle. Work undertaken in the Pukekohe district had shown that where Maori women were transferred to good homes they cared for them and maintained them just as well as their pakeha sisters would do. The long hours which nurses had to work and the time which they had to devote to study was another problem. There was an acute shortage of nurses in New Zealand and, although it was not in the interests of the patients, the nurses just had to work long hours. Duty and Citizens. “It is just as important for the women of the world to turn their minds to the problems of citizenship as to keep their homes clean and their children well nourished,’’ said Mrs. Freeman. Every advance made in the world and every advance hoped for would be lost if the world was allowed to break into a conflagration like that of 1914. Most of the schemes for the promotion of peace and the abolition of war were based on ignorance and superficial guesswork. She appealed to every woman not to allow her opinion on world affaris to be determined by prejudice but by a knowledge of international conditions and associations with other people. Because New Zealand was a small country and was so far away was no reason why the women should think that the country counted for nothing. “New Zealand counts for much and is an important Pacific country. The stand which we have taken at | Geneva for the defence of the smaller • countries has aroused much interest |in us and we should draw close to those other countries which are seekI ing for peace,” said Mrs. Freeman. ! These problems might be overcome at the Pan-Pacific Conference in Wel- | lington in 1940. Hatred and Prejudice. Little children who grew up without racial hatred and prejudice were a power for peace, declared Mrs. Freeman. It was up to the women of the world to build a bridge over the gulfs which separated nation and nation. Women s work did not end in the home but included the duty of citizenship. It was much easier for men to play a part in the affairs out* side of the home because they were usually belter educated, worked outside, and had more contact with his fellow men. Once women realised that they had as many brains as their husbands, then they would become a very powerfulforce in this country and would cease to be termed, in the popular phrase, the weaker sex. “We are only called the weaker sex because we have the power in our hands and do not use It,” she added. The League of Nations Union was holding a big peace conference in New Zealand shortly and this would afford a wonderful opportunity for the women of New Zealand. Mrs Freeman was accorded a he,arty vote of thanks on the motion of the president, Mrs. A. McPhail.